Saving History: The Rapid Response Collecting of the Capitol Siege
February 6, 2021 5:02 AM   Subscribe

"Knowing that many objects from the day’s rally and attack on the U.S. Capitol would quickly be discarded, I volunteered to go down to the National Mall and see what I could find....My collecting approach was simple: save materials clearly related to the rally and the attack that followed. The materials, devoid of their creators and users, constituted little more than trash unless saved and contextualized." The Cold Morning of the Day After reflects on sifting through the detritus of the siege.

The author, Frank Blazich Jr., works for the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as a curator in the Division of Political and Military History. "What some call trash, I call history."

From the NYT: "Efforts to acquire materials from the unrest are restricted to the National Mall, while authorities in the Capitol Building are leading their own cleanup efforts and aiding a federal investigation into the violence that took place. However, curators expect that in the near future they will be able to work with government agencies, congressional offices and the curator for the Architect of the Capitol to make acquisitions from inside the building....Curators at the museum had embarked on a similar collecting expedition over the summer, acquiring signs and banners from Black Lives Matter protests to document the moment in history. At that time, museum officials asked the public to submit any material that could be considered as a future acquisition; on Friday, they repeated the request for contributions, asking that photos and brief descriptions of objects be sent to 2020ElectionCollection@si.edu."
posted by MonkeyToes (14 comments total) 40 users marked this as a favorite
 
Amazing post. The Smithsonian has such a great website, something I discovered last year when looking for a way of stopping myself from doomscrolling.
posted by The River Ivel at 5:59 AM on February 6, 2021 [4 favorites]


I really wish there had been a way to get special permission to collect inside the security perimeter and inside the Capitol itself. Dr. Blazich did a great thing running out there to collect what he could — I just keep thinking about what else was there. It’ll make for a disturbing but important exhibit, with photos and videos of the day, and the materials to make it tangible.
posted by snowmentality at 6:38 AM on February 6, 2021


I know of no reason
why the Capitol Insurrection
Should ever be forgot.
posted by Catblack at 9:46 AM on February 6, 2021 [14 favorites]


I wonder if Dr Blazich's approach would cause a frisson among his archaeological colleagues. It's a bit like a metal detectorist cherry-picking a medieval chalice from a ploughed field and wrenching it from its stratigraphic context and thereby losing almost all of its information. Then again if everything was destined for landfill within the day, it's probably better to scoop some of the ephemera to remind us all that something extraordinary happened the day before.
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:17 AM on February 6, 2021


I'm always fascinated by the point at which "discarded item festering in a bin under empty energy-drink cans" becomes "significant historical document wrapped in archival storage materials and stored carefully". The Museum of London has a similar archive, and had a great exhibition a few years ago about the squatting movement of the late 70s/80s, which I was involved in. As you get older, it's is very interesting to see stuff you were actually involved in in a glass case in a museum.

I'm sure the Smithonian to will produce a fascinating exhibition with this stuff eventually, but maybe, er, leave it a few years. I suspect the people involved in the Capitol invasion may not be so charmed to see themselves a part of history.
posted by Fuchsoid at 10:24 AM on February 6, 2021 [4 favorites]


I suspect the people involved in the Capitol invasion may not be so charmed to see themselves a part of history.

The sooner they get used to being history, the better off we'll all be.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:37 AM on February 6, 2021 [19 favorites]


Interesting post. I'm glad to see that there was someone looking to gather artifacts from the event to ensure they can be given historical context.

From the article: Farther down the mall, a small “Trump 2020” flag emerged from within the trash—accompanied by a small, mud-stained American flag.

It's always funny how the flag is The Most Holy Thing Ever when someone is, say, kneeling in protest, but the same folks will simply toss it in the trash or let it fly from their cars, tattered from the blast of highway journeys.

From the article: The first large item to greet me? A wooden structure on its side with signs affixed to the base...what I recognized as gallows, sans noose. Unable to remove pieces of the structure, I opted for photographs...

Honestly, I hope they were able to get this piece for their collection, if it's not "EXHIBIT A" for Trump's impeachment trial. I think this puts the mood of the terrorists in sharp relief: while this particular symbol might have been presented as "Art," so many that day were out for blood.
posted by MrGuilt at 12:51 PM on February 6, 2021 [10 favorites]


I find it interesting that the far left likes to threaten with images of guillotines, while the far right likes to threaten with images of gallows. It's the difference between orderly, state-sponsored execution and a blood-thirsty lynch mob.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:55 PM on February 6, 2021 [9 favorites]


Though I thank them for coming out of the closet
The response to the crazies was not televised

It was the revolution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnJFhuOWgXg
posted by Twang at 4:09 PM on February 6, 2021


I find it interesting that the far left likes to threaten with images of guillotines, while the far right likes to threaten with images of gallows.

Let me fix that for you: "I find it interesting that the far left likes to threaten with images of guillotines, while the far right likes to threaten with images of by building actual gallows."
posted by MrGuilt at 9:05 PM on February 6, 2021 [13 favorites]


Pence with an AK-47 in his Senate office might agree. But the guillotine was in control of the right to center wing of the revolution when implemented and to have the person who invented it regrat that nullifies the blade a bit. You really don't see the left wearing little guillotines. The Flint War party of 69'-70' featured AK-47s, grenades for the accruitment celebre. But think about it, they blew up a bathroom in the US capital, made best no one was hurt and that's bad, it's terror albiet low grade but insurrection is the continuation of violence on a large scale to spurn and hammer rebellion all throughout the land.

Photos and some items with context should be preserved.
posted by clavdivs at 11:45 PM on February 6, 2021


I dunno. I understand the need to collect and remember, but putting traitors' trash in a museum elevates it to a level of legitimacy I'd rather not give them. A crazed mentality will turn anything into a relic; look at how the Confederate flag has been venerated by racists who claim "It's history/heritage!"

I mean, did this guy go out and collect discarded signs after the 2017 Women's March, or the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter protests? If not -- why not? What's the assumption there about what does/doesn't deserve to get into the Smithsonian?

Create an exhibit, sure -- Jan 6, 2021 should be remembered as we remember Dec 7, 1941 -- but make it about Rep Andy Kim (only the second MoC of Korean descent, narrowly flipped a Republican district) cleaning up the Capitol or the special order hour of Members speaking about what they experienced.
posted by basalganglia at 5:51 AM on February 7, 2021


>I mean, did this guy go out and collect discarded signs after the 2017 Women's March, or the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter protests? If not -- why not?

Actually yes, and yes:

Curators from three Smithsonian museums have begun collecting signs and other objects from Black Lives Matter protests that were held outside the White House and other places in Washington D.C. The Smithsonian said in a statement Thursday that it wants to preserve items so Americans can "understand the role that race has played in our complicated 400-year history."
posted by verstegan at 6:59 AM on February 7, 2021 [12 favorites]


> I find it interesting that the far left likes to threaten with images of guillotines, while the far right likes to threaten with images of gallows. It's the difference between orderly, state-sponsored execution and a blood-thirsty lynch mob.

It's more like the difference between the French Revolution killing aristocrats and Southern lynchings killing Black people.
posted by Tom-B at 5:29 PM on February 10, 2021


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